


Winchester Luck

by nwspaprtaxis



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Blood, Coda, Common Cold, Concussions, Coughing, Crack, Cramps, Dean in Hell, Demon Blood Addiction, Drabble Collection, Drowning, Drunkenness, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Tag, Fever, Fluff, Gen, Going to Hell, Grief/Mourning, Hangover, Hell Trauma, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Hurt Dean Winchester, Hurt Sam Winchester, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Influenza, Injury, Medical Procedures, Pain, Panic Attacks, Post-Hell, Post-Hell Dean, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prank Wars, Pre-Series, Protective Bobby Singer, Protective Dean Winchester, Protective Lisa Braeden, Protective Sam Winchester, Sam Winchester's Visions, Scat, Season/Series 01, Season/Series 02, Season/Series 03, Season/Series 04, Season/Series 05, Sick Dean Winchester, Sick Sam Winchester, Sprain/Strain, Stanford Era, Stitches, Stomach Ache, Tenderness, Urination, Visions, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-20
Updated: 2011-06-05
Packaged: 2017-12-13 06:59:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 78
Words: 10,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/821380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nwspaprtaxis/pseuds/nwspaprtaxis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>E/O DRABBLE CHALLENGE. A collection of unrelated 100-word drabbles for the E/O challenge focusing on Dean and Sam Winchester. Mostly of the H/C variety. All my drabbles will be posted here to keep them all pretty and tidy in one neat bundle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Belt

**Author's Note:**

> _**A/N:**_ Over on [FF.Net](www.fanfiction.net) there is a little thing called the E/O challenge in which players must turn out 100-word ficlets using a provided word. All of the drabbles occur sometime between Seasons 1 and 5 of _Supernatural_ with some exceptions. Most of them are unbeta'd due to time constraints but in many cases (particularly when I was first starting out) they were looked over or beta'd by the very awesome **mad_server** who was a freaking rockstar when it came to putting up with me, my fragile, insecure muse, and endless editing.
> 
>  _ **Disclaimer:**_ Do not own. Am not making a profit. Just simply having fun with their psyches and returning them slightly more battered to Kripke and Co. and all that Yada Yada.

**Date: December 20, 2009**

**Challenge Word: Belt**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Pre-series, Dean about 14 and Sam 10, although they could be any age up until Sam leaves for Stanford**

* * *

Blood flows thick, hot, tacky down his side, making his shirt cold and clammy.

_Yeah. Not good._

Then his little brother's beside him, slipping a skinny arm around his waist, keeping him upright, all worried-puppy expression.

His head swims. The world tips. _Gotta tape up… but… first…_ he can hear Sammy's breathing, quick and harsh… _reassure Sammy… then get back to the Impala…_ they're moving, somehow… _and wait for dad._ He feels as though he's been belted a good one.

 _Impala and wait._ Those are his orders. Or at least he thinks they're his orders…

Leather seat. "I gotcha, Dean."


	2. Shoe

**Date: December 27, 2009**

**Challenge Word: Shoe**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One**

* * *

"Hate pixies, man." Dean winces, gingerly sitting on the motel bed. "Little twinkling multicolored bastards."

There's tight pain lines around Dean's mouth as Sam unlaces and pulls off his brother's shoe.

"Hey, don't blame the pixies. Those were lights, Dean." Sam grins crazily, probing twisted ankle. "You totally got taken down by a Christmas Tree."

"It was possessed by pixies."

"There wasn't a single pixie for miles around. Poltergeist. Wall. Concussion. Ring a bell?"

"Did we get 'im?"

"Uh. I got him, while you handled the tree..." Sam dissolves into helpless laughter.

"Shuddup, bitch."

Swipe.

Duck.

Wheeze.

"Merry Christmas, jerk."


	3. Shoe - Crack!Version

**Date: December 27, 2009**

**Challenge Word: Shoe**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One**

* * *

"Hate Nargles, man." Dean winces, gingerly sitting on the motel bed. "Little twinkling multicolored bastards."

There's tight pain lines around Dean's mouth as Sam unlaces and pulls off his brother's shoe.

"Nargles had nothing to do with it. Those were lights, Dean." Sam grins crazily, probing twisted ankle. "You totally got taken down by a Christmas Tree."

"A tree infected with Nargles."

"Nargles don't even exist, Dean! It was a poltergeist."

"Did we get him?"

"Uh. I got him, while you handled the tree..." Sam dissolves into helpless laughter.

"Shuddup." Swipe.

A wheeze. "You gotta stop reading Harry Potter, dude."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **_A/N:_** While writing my drabble of the week, Nargles from _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_ suddenly popped in my head and wouldn't leave me alone. It's the same exact context/situation as my "real" submission. For those of you who may not remember, Nargles were mentioned once in passing in _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_ by Luna Lovegood. According to Luna (and to the Harry Potter Wiki), "The Nargle is yet another creature that Luna Lovegood believe exists though not many others do. The Nargle is known to infest mistletoe and to be a mischievous thief."


	4. Brand

**Date: January 3, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Brand**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOHKO BENNINGTON! (Prompt: humorous non-angsty drabbles, with adorabless and drunkeness, and pranks)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Pre-series, but taggish to 1x17 HELL HOUSE**

* * *

Twenty-one-year-old Dean stalks to the register, jaw clenched. _Sonovabitch. Sammy's so gonna DIE_.

Granted, he'd started this round, supergluing Sam's chemistry textbook shut page by page, but Sammy'd crossed the line by taping Celine Dion's _My Heart Will Go On_ over _Metallica's Greatest Hits_. In the middle of Side-A. Erasing two and a half songs.

_They're so ON._

Perky blonde grins at him, scans his one-pound bag of peanut M&Ms. "Will that be all?"

Charm. Million-dollar embarrassed smile. "Actually, there's one other thing. My brother needs…" suddenly-interesting boots, "some name-brand shampoo that takes off hair…"

"That'd be in Aisle 3-B."


	5. Drip - Soncnica

**Date: January 10, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Drip**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One, occurring between 1x01 PILOT and 1x02 WENDIGO**

* * *

Start awake. Curl into fetal position. Wrap arms around midsection. Slow pant.

Stomach cramps. Twists.

_Not gonna puke._

_Not gonna_ …

Sick flip. Breath hitches.

_...puke._

Dizzy rise from crap motel bed. Hesitation. Stagger to feet. Stumble. Crash into chair, wall, doorway.

Reach bathroom. Cold tile against bare kneecaps.

Porcelain god. Death grip. Muscles cord, veins ridge in forearms.

_Jess eviscerated…_

Heave. Retch. Vomit.

Bile drips from lips. Tears stream.

… _flaming on the ceiling…_

Guts clench. Throw up again. And again.

Toilet flushes. Glass of water appears. "Another nightmare about Jess?" Rough voice, gentle.

"Gotta leave Palo Alto..."

"Okay. We'll go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **_A/N:_** **Soncnica** , this one's for you, babe, if you want it. I've been reading WAY too much of your stuff when I see "drip" and automatically think "Sam Puking" without hesitation like some kind of Pavlovian Dog. Thanks for being so fantastically awesome in every possible way... *smishes*


	6. Fold - Shinaria

**Date: January 17, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Fold**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHINARIA! (Prompt: Hurt/Suffering!Sam)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One, taking place after 1x14 NIGHTMARE but before 1x20 DEAD MAN'S BLOOD**

* * *

Sharp pain. World grays, fades.

_Low clapboard ranch..._

Fold up, groaning.

_Blazing sun in too-blue sky…_

Hands grab temples. Agony.

_God, no..._

Forehead finds dashboard.

_Pull over…_

Impala rushes down the highway.

"Now..." Voice faint.

"Dude?" Alarm. Concern. "Sam?"

Car swerves. Crunches over gravel. Stops.

Beat. "Vision?"

Feeble, brief nod. Stars explode.

Rapid-fire images:

_Kitchen sink. Baby crying. China cabinet flies across room. Shatters. License Plate._

Door handle. Fumble. Push door open. Shoot head outside. Lose dinner, lunch, and breakfast.

Waver.

Strong hands manhandle gently back into seat. Sturdy hold doesn't withdraw.

Reach out. Soft, worn flannel. Reality. "Oklahoma, Dean."


	7. Bind

**Date: January 24, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Bind**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One**

* * *

"So… um…" Sam looks up, studying the ropes tying his hands above his head, seeing sky. "We're in a bit of a bind."

"Ya think, college boy?" Dean bucks, smashing his back into Sam's.

Sam ignores the sarcasm. "We're in some kind of well…"

"Yahtzee. Figured as much while you were in la-la land."

Dean pauses, panting.

"D'you know what we need?" Thrashing. More back-slams. "Lassie."

" _Lassie_?" Sam snorts, flexing his wrists, gradually loosening the rope. "What the hell's Lassie gonna do?"

"I dunno. She always saved Timmy..."

Dean's words are cut off by a low, feral growl.

"Oh, shit."


	8. Twist - Supernoodle

**Date: January 31, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Twist**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUPERNOODLE! (Prompt: Dean after a fight. Against a person, or a monster, or even a tree. Bruises, bloody noses, black eyes, ice packs, the usual)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One**

* * *

Come to. Noise. Sticky floor. Blurry gray Sasquatch-sized Sam-shape.

Humongous paws close around triceps.

Upright too fast. World tips, spins.

Palm meets sweatshirt, twists fabric. Greasy swallow.

Don't vomit. Shaky exhale.

Sam-voice: "You're okay. Jus' take it easy. He KO'd you good there..."

They're moving. Cold air. Sam-shape never lets go.

Leather seat. Baby. Engine rumbles. Metallica plays quietly.

Sam-shape hauls him out of car. Half-carries him.

Motel room. Rock-hard bed. Bright light.

"Shit, Dean. Your face..."

Bossy hands strip him to boxers, T-shirt.

Ice pack. Pills.

"You've got a broken nose and two black eyes…" Blanket. "Get some sleep."


	9. Curl - Double Drabble

**Date: February 7, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Curl**

**Word Count: 200 on the dot (CHOKE ON IT, WORD COUNTER)**

**Timeline: Mid-late Season One, before 1x20 DEAD MAN'S BLOOD**

* * *

Sam hears his name, Dean's voice dragging him from sleep.

"Wha'did the witch-bitch…" a slow pant from the other bed, "say right when you torched her?"

"Uh..." Sam rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands. "Something about the pain of Eve for a day, I think… why?"

"Fucking cramps." A grunt.

Sam pushes himself up on his elbows, glances over. His brother's on his side, knees drawn up, arms wrapped around gut. "Dean?" He's already getting out of bed.

"Pain..." a gasp... "of Eve… my ass." A swallowed-back groan.

Sam blindly feels through their duffle bag, finds the hot water bottle, and goes into the bathroom. "Hang on." He fills the rubber bag with steaming water and stoppers it.

"Here, dude, it'll help."

In the dim, bluish glow of the streetlights, Dean peers up, fixes him with a _you've-gotta-be-shitting-me_ look, curls tighter.

"Trust me. Just take it."

Dean rolls his eyes and dubiously accepts the offering.

Sam crawls into his own bed, flopping onto his back. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches Dean relax, shoulders slumping, knees slipping lower.

"On the bright side, man, you only have to do this for twenty-four hours."

"Fucking witch."


	10. Warm - Supernaturalmydreams

**Date: February 14, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Warm**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUPERNATURALMYDREAMS! (Prompt: lots of hurt/comfort between Sam and Dean. Maybe with an emphasis on panic attcks, choking, or drowning)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One**

* * *

It never fails. The sight of Dean, strung up like a side of beef this time, makes him freeze, breath catching somewhere in his throat, heart stopping. He knows Dean's hurt and he's always scared that Dean's dead. But right then, big brother always delivers…

Green eyes. Smirk.

It never fails. The sight of Sam, unharmed, unfettered, brings immediate relief, warmth coursing through veins to numb, bound hands. Breath returns, heartbeat regulates. He knows Sammy's terrified so he always tries to stay conscious, until Sam moves in and he knows it's okay to let go 'cause…

Ropes untie. "I gotcha."


	11. Soft - KKBelvis

**Date: February 21, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Soft**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY KKBELVIS! (Prompt: Limp!Sam, fevered, drunk, bleeding, unable to breathe, with tender, caring, brutally handsome hero Dean. Maybe some outdoor hurts as well)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One**

* * *

"De..." Sam coughs until his gag reflex kicks in and he brings up more stagnant pond water.

"Easy there, Aquaman." Dean's hand is warm, soothing on his back as he retches into the cold, soft, black mud. "Just breathe."

When he's finally stopped choking, Sam tries again. "Did…" He blinks at Dean, confused, and shivers, the muscles in his limbs spasming overtime.

"Got 'im." Dean's expression is cold and hard. "Shit, Sammy, that was just way too friggin' close." He sniffs. "C'mon."

Sam's on his feet. He groans, sways, and Dean takes most of his weight.

"Let's get outta here."


	12. Shoulder - Kiwisplaj

**Date: February 28, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Shoulder**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIWISPLASJ! (Prompt: Dean gets a pet. Adorable fluff with twinges of humor)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One**

* * *

"Hell, no." Dean stares at the black Labrador puppy. "You so did not just do this to me."

"Dean, it's fine. It's just for a few hours. D'you want me to go on this date or not?"

"But…."

"She needs a puppy-sitter and we need intel." Sam looks pointedly at him, grins. "Enjoy yourself."

Dean groans as the door clicks shut.

The puppy whimpers and dejectedly lays down, head on paws, dark brown eyes staring soulfully.

"Crap."

Dean picks up the whining puppy, cuddles it against his shoulder. The puppy snuggles closer, licks his chin.

"Don't tell Sam," Dean whispers.


	13. Shoulder - 88Ivories

**Date: February 28, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Shoulder**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY 88IVORIES! (Prompt: pure and unadulterated ANGST)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One, occurring between 1x02 WENDIGO and 1x03 DEAD IN THE WATER**

* * *

Dean's playing poker when he sees Sam lurch towards the exit.

"Fold," he exhales, placing his ace and jack, both hearts, facedown and gathers winnings.

Outside, Sam's sitting on the Impala's trunk, bottle of whiskey in hand.

"Y'okay?" Dean says nonchalantly, hoisting himself up besides Sam.

No answer.

"Y'gonna share?"

Sam's face is wet in the streetlights as he passes the bottle.

"It hurts so much." His voice is thick and hoarse with tears and booze. "Why did..."

Dean has no answers. Instead, he edges closer so their shoulders are touching, offering silent comfort, and takes a swig. "Bottoms up."


	14. Idioms - LivingForTV

**Date: March 7, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Idioms!**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIVINGFORTV!**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One**

* * *

_"Sam, down!"_

Sam drops instinctively, instantly, onto the moldy hay just as Dean blasts a flickering chicken full of rock salt, dispelling it instantly.

"Got'im."

"Don't count your chickens before they're hatched." Sam warily pushes himself from the ground, bleeding from deep scratches on his arms, legs.

Dean wipes his sweaty forehead with the back of his wrist, smearing blood. Pants. "Salt'n'burn time."

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket..."

The demonic ghost-fowls solidify, stand wing-to-wing in an impenetrable wall, preparing for another blitz.

"Crap."

"I thought haunted chicken coops were rarer'n hen's teeth."

"Stow the poultry references, Sam!"


	15. Shield - Part One: Musica Diabolos

**Date: March 14, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Shield**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUSICA DIABOLOS! (Prompt: Sick!Needy!Sam)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One**

* * *

Dean leans against the doorjamb, listening to Sam purging his guts in the bathroom, the thin door doing nothing to shield the sound. Sam's been in there for nearly an hour and, well, they sure aren't going anywhere for at least the next twenty-four. He's already paid for the extra night and straightened out the room, leaving Sam to his misery.

But now the vomiting has shifted to dry heaves and, if his Sammy-knowledge is still correct after four years, little brother will be calling for big brother in exactly — he checks his watch — _five… four… three… two…_

"Dean?"

 _Yahtzee_.


	16. Shield - Part Two: Soncnica

**Date: March 14, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Shield**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONCNICA! (Prompt: Sick!Needy!Sam)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One**

* * *

Sam shivers, sweating profusely, pulls the blanket more tightly around him into a protective shield. He glares at Dean, convinced his brother isn't human with his cast-iron, teflon-lined stomach and groans miserably as his own cramps emptily. _Hell, Dean could probably digest nails and still be fine_ …

He must've drifted off because the next thing he knows, the shadows have migrated and the lamp's on.

"How're you doin', puke-boy?" Dean asks, setting aside the laptop.

"I'll live," Sam croaks, struggling upright to lean exhaustedly against the headboard.

Dean's besides him, twisting the orange cap off a Gatorade bottle. "Drink up."


	17. Coffee

**Date: March 21, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Coffee**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Stanford-Era, about a week after Sam splits for Stanford (Dean is 22)**

* * *

Dean groans, flinging an arm over his face as sunshine stabs his eyeballs with its too-bright rays. _God, all those beers last night was_ not _a good idea_.

"C'mon. Daylight's burning." Dad's bark is too loud, hand shaking ankle.

 _Don't wanna_ , he thinks, but wordlessly rises, squinting.

"Hangover?" It's more statement than question, but Dad doesn't sound angry.

Dean keeps his mouth shut, accepting judgement.

"This isn't going to become a habit, is it?"

"N-no, Sir."

"Then get in the shower and I'll make us some coffee."

Dean double-takes. "You're not mad?"

"You're not the only one who misses Sam."


	18. Soak

**Date: April 24, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Soak**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One, Tag to 1x15 THE BENDERS**

* * *

Dean bites back a groan as he slowly removes his black nylon jacket, left shoulder flaring in pain as he twists the joint. _God, does being stabbed with a hot poker fucking hurt…_ he thinks sardonically as he fingers the charred rip. It crackles slightly under his touch.

Inhaling sharply, he meets his pale reflection in the bathroom mirror. Steeling himself, he pulls at his overshirt, fabric tearing from skin.

White explodes before him.

"Sonova _BITCH_!"

He's suddenly sitting on the toilet, dizzy, Sam in his space.

"Easy," he hears Sam. "I gotcha. Why don't we soak that off first, okay?"


	19. Student

**Date: May 16, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Student**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One, Tag / Missing Scene to 1x14 NIGHTMARE**

* * *

"This is your bright idea?" Sam gapes, watching Dean button up a black dress shirt to his chin. "To pose as _priests_?"

"Got any better ideas, Einstein? You've said it yourself: the family's wrecked. They're not gonna want to talk to a couple of guys in flannel shirts. So I figure being eminent students of theology is our best bet."

He grins.

And Sam knows he's screwed.

"But, Dean..."

"You wanna investigate what went down? Then hurry up and get dressed, we've got a bereaved family to console." He tosses a strip of white cardboard. "Don't forget your collar, _Father_."


	20. Dust & Ridiculous - ImpalaDreams

**Date: May 30, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Dust / Ridiculous**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY IMPALADREAMS! (Prompt: Hurt!Dean)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season Two**

* * *

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," Dean pants, striking a match, staring down at the staked corpse. He holds the flame up for a second before dropping it into the coffin six feet below. Gasoline ignites instantly. "Burn in hell, bitch."

He wavers on his feet, palms his ribs, wincing, and his hand comes away bloody. Suddenly, his eyesight blurs and the ground shifts unsteadily.

A ginormous hand wraps around his biceps.

He shrugs off Sam. "I'm fine. Don't be ridiculous." He staggers a few steps, nearly falls.

Sam catches him, pulls an arm over broad shoulders. "Your name Winchester?"


	21. White - PADavis

**Date: June 6, 2010**

**Challenge Word: White**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY PADAVIS!**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season Three, Spoiler-ish for 2x22 ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE 2 and takes place between 3x15 TIME IS ON MY SIDE and 3x16 NO REST FOR THE WICKED without really being a tag for either episode**

* * *

"You all right, kid?" Bobby steps onto the porch, drops to the topmost stair alongside Dean Winchester. The boy's pale, exhausted as he lifts the Kentucky bourbon to his lips, swigs.

"J-just… Hell." He wipes his mouth with the back of his wrist. Bobby catches the flash of terror in his too-expressive eyes.

"Your brother's in there trying to break your damn deal."

"I know." Dean slumps, resting forearms on knees, bottle dangling from slack hands. "I…" He blinks, looks up at the wide, white swath that is the Milky Way. "...Wanted..." A swallow. "Bobby?"

"Yeah, I'll look after Sam."


	22. Trash

**Date: June 13, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Trash**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Stanford-Era**

**Warnings: Squickage**

* * *

"Oh, fuuuuuuuuck." Dean lunges over the side of the bed to projectile vomit into the convenient trash can. He doesn't even heave as everything he's ever eaten in the past twenty-four hours pours out of his mouth in a rush, some of it still… _chunky_. He moans as his stomach spasms, acrid bile running down his chin, mixing with the snot and tears he'll never admit crying.

Spent, he collapses back onto sticky, sweat-soaked sheets, weak and shivery. He catches sight of his silent, taunting cell phone. Dad's out on a hunt and Sam's... _probably studying_.

He doesn't consider calling.


	23. Wicked

**Date: June 20, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Wicked**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Three, although it probably best fits Season One**

* * *

The two Winchesters stand doubled-over, panting for air, backs to the line of glass-fronted refrigerators in the dilapidated, deserted ABC liquor store, surveying the carnage.

Wine bottles and beer cans lay in smashed chaos around them, alcohol pooling beneath their boots, ambers and purples mixing in sticky, pungent puddles.

Breath evening, hands still on knees, Dean looks up at his brother, grins. "Job well done, bro. Way to gank the alcoholic ghost. Want a brewski?"

They turn.

And stare, slackjawed in disbelief.

There is one lonely, battered, six-pack.

"Wanna try Pete's Wicked Ale?" Sam opens the shattered door, hinges squealing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **_A/N:_** ABC is a liquor store that is ubiquitous in Florida... as in there is least one ABC store to every town (usually more). Also, Pete's Wicked Ale is a real beer in the United States.


	24. Safe

**Date: June 27, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Safe**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One, Tag / Coda to 1x01 PILOT**

* * *

_"So, what're you gonna do? Are you just gonna live some normal, apple-pie life? Is that it?"_

_"No, not normal. Safe."_

Sam's words suffocate him, as thick and oppressive as a dripping wet wool blanket on a humid summer night.

Dean watches his baby brother — ginormous and octopus-limbed, snuffling miserably in his exhausted sleep — from over the edge of his beer bottle as he tilts it slowly. Sam's frigging four again, wearing hand-me-down t-shirt and shorts, only this time they're a size too small.

He swallows, hates himself for dragging Sam back into his livelihood.

_Security's a fuckin' pipe dream._


	25. Independent

**Date: July 4, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Independent**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Pre-Series, November or December before Sam leaves for Stanford; Sam is 17 and Dean is 21**

* * *

"You always were the independent one," Dean whispers to the cracked asphalt, engrossed with their shoes. He's wearing leather boots so worn the black's almost brown. Sam's wearing sneakers. "You always knew what you wanted, stood up for it, weren't afraid to chase after it." _Not like me_ remains unsaid.

"Hey," Sam's voice is quiet, but it makes Dean look up. "Just 'cause I'm going doesn't mean I'm not scared. Dad's gonna be so pissed." Sam refolds the cream-colored Stanford acceptance letter, shivers.

"Yeah…" A sniff. "But I'll be right behind ya."

"I know." _And that's why I can go._


	26. Mark

**Date: July 11, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Mark**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Pre-Series, vaguely Taggish to 1x13 Route 666**

* * *

She trails her hand down his nape, skimming lightly over his shoulder blade before settling on his upper arm, marvels at the contrast of cream and chocolate.

His breath hitches.

Raising herself on one elbow, she glimpses a livid mark just below his shoulder. It seems recent. "What happened?"

"'S nothing. Jus' a burn." His voice is sleepy against her clavicle. "'S fine."

"It looks nasty, though. Is it from your job?"

A nod, his short hair prickling her skin.

"Why won't you ever talk about it?"

"'S complicated. 'Sides, you'd think I'm batshit-crazy if I told you."

"Try me."


	27. Keep

**Date: July 18, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Keep**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season Three, Tag / Coda to 3x16 NO REST FOR THE WICKED**

* * *

_Keep fighting… Take care of my wheels… Remember what Dad… what_ I _taught you…_

_I will. God, I will._

Sam silently hefts his big brother — mauled, bloody, dead — into his arms. Even though Dean's shorter and slighter, he's solid muscle. It'd be easier to fireman-carry him, but somehow that feels wrong. Especially after everything.

He walks outside into the bright sunlight, cradling Dean, ignoring the shell-shocked family, unsurprised that the street's empty, all the demons gone.

"Sam..." Bobby's waiting, an army blanket spread over the Impala's backseat, rear passenger door open. "We gotta..."

"I can't."

_I'm gonna get you out._


	28. Keep - Double Drabble

**Date: July 18, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Keep**

**Word Count: 200 on the dot (CHOKE ON IT, WORD COUNTER)**

**Timeline: Pre-series, but vaguely spoiler-ish for certain moments in 2x01 IN MY TIME OF DYING and 2x06 NO EXIT in that it deals with a couple of lines from each episode, but nothing earth-shattering from either. Dean is 6, Sammy's 2**

* * *

"Keep your eye on the target, son." Six-year-old Dean Winchester hears his father growl besides him. He hefts the gun to his shoulder, imitating Dad. "It's okay if you don't hit them. Don't worry about that, just shoot."

It doesn't matter what Dad says, doesn't matter that he hates the feel of the weapon in his hands. Dean knows, deep down inside that he has to nail each one of the beer bottles. It'd make Dad proud. He tries not to think about how Dad drank all of them in one sitting, staring blankly at the wall, not really returning his vain hugs to make it better. He tries not to think about Sammy and trying to teach his baby brother how to use a toilet. He tries not to think about Mommy and the house fire.

Dean levels the sawed-off at the first bottle, glares at it, blocking out everything else, even Dad crouching slightly behind him. There's only him and his target. He shatters it with his first shot. Not breaking his concentration, he bulls-eyes the others, one after the other.

He turns and sees a big grin break across his Dad's face. It makes him smile back.


	29. Rock

**Date: July 25, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Rock**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One, Tag / Coda to 1x10 ASYLUM**

* * *

Dean lifts the warm, soaked facecloth from the sink. The threadbare fabric, rough and slightly moldy, is already stained pink, the water a pale red. Taking a fortifying breath, he presses the dripping rag to his chest. Fire erupts across his raw skin as the rock salt dissolves. The pain catches him off-guard again, leaving him doubled-over, hissing between clenched teeth. It's bad, but it pales in comparison to...

The door suddenly swings open and he looks up, meets Sam's puppy gaze.

"God, Dean. I'm…"

He reaches out, shuts the door.

_Whoever said words can't hurt was a fuckin' idiot._


	30. Lunge

**Date: August 1, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Lunge**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Pre-Series through Season Three, although it probably best fits Season One**

* * *

The Impala bucks, lunges as Dean slams his foot down on the pedal, hurtling forward. Lurching, it rolls into a gas station, coasting not more than three-miles-per-hour, sputtering feebly as it skids up to a pump, and sighs to a dead halt.

"Good job, baby," Dean purrs to the car, patting the dashboard as he switches off the ignition.

" _Good?_ Dean, we were running on pure fumes for the past ten miles." Sam gestures wildly behind him at the narrow, buckled stretch of highway, huge-eyed.

A lone tumbleweed bounces across the road.

"Made it, though. Fill 'er up, Sammy. Premium."


	31. Dude

**Date: August 8, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Dude**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Pre-Series through Season Three, although it probably best fits Season One**

* * *

Sam feels hands slapping the sides of his face, bringing him back into a world of hurt. Prying his lids open, he sees two Deans. Both of them are grinning. Sam moans, eyes slipping shut against the blurry sight.

"Hey, dude, no sleeping." The sharp, concerned tone forces him to open his eyes again. One of the Deans've disappeared and Sam wonders vaguely where he went.

"De..."

"Yahtzee. How many?" Dean's holding up some fingers but they keep multiplying.

"Ni-nineteen?" Sam guesses.

"Close enough."

Dean's got his hands around him and Sam's mostly upright.

"Let's get you outta here, Wall-boy."


	32. Close

**Date: August 15, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Close**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Three, although it probably best fits Season One**

* * *

Sam sets down the scissors and tugs the shredded t-shirt from his brother's body. It's not the first time he's ever done this and it won't be the last. Not by a long stretch.

"Stitches, bro." Sam reaches for the holy water.

"Go for it," Dean pants. He's lying prone on the mattress, pale and sweating, towels packed around him, face turned towards the wall.

Thirty minutes later, Dean's barely conscious and Sam's methodically closing up the last of the ragged slashes — courtesy of the Hopi spirit-dog who had some serious territorial issues — across Dean's back.

"There. Get some sleep."


	33. Leak

**Date: August 22, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Leak**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Three, although it probably best fits Season Two or Season Three**

* * *

Sam crouches besides his brother. Dean's on his knees, curled over his abdomen, hands cupping his nether regions, groaning in agony.

"Dean?"

Dean raises his head, his eyes huge and blinking, tears leaking from their corners. "She's a demon," he rasps faintly. "Oh, God, fuck," he curses, folding over, forehead meeting gravel. "Sonovabitch."

Sam scans the nearly deserted playground, sees a bespectacled girl with twin blond braids reading a book on the swings. She looks about eight.

"Y'mean her?" Sam whispers, pointing.

Dean peers up, nods. "Demon, Sammy."

Sam rises to his feet, warily makes his way towards her. "Christo."


	34. Leak - Bonus Feature

**Date: August 22, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Leak**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Three, although it probably best fits Season Two or Season Three**

* * *

Dean stares into the toilet. "Sam?" He calls out. "Piss isn't supposed to be red, is it?"

"No, why?" His massive little brother busts in the locked door, shouldering into the bathroom, joining him in front of the toilet just as he's zipping up his jeans. "Shit, Dean."

"Yeah," he whispers. "And I'm… _leaking_ …" He flaps his hand downwards as he looks away, cheeks burning. The grout between the green-blue tiles need a good scrubbing. Not that he cares.

"Does it hurt when you…" he hears the embarrassed hitch in Sam's voice.

"Bad." He reaches out, flushes.

"Hospital time, man."


	35. Fly

**Date: August 29, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Fly**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Three**

* * *

Dean plunges the oversized green sponge into the ten-gallon plastic bucket filled with soapy water. Squeezing it, he feels the synthetic material expand underneath his fingers. He pulls it dripping from the pail and slides it across the windshield of the Impala, scrubbing off the layer of dead flies. Repeating the rinse-and-lather, he washes off the patina of dust and mud from the hood, the roof, humming.

"Seriously, Dean?" Sam steps carefully around a wreckage. " _Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman_?"

Dean ducks his head, accepts the proffered beer. "Well, Sammy, she's a girl. You gotta treat her right."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **_A/N:_** The song Sam refers to (the one Dean is humming) is _Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?_ by Bryan Adams.


	36. Unfortunate

**Date: September 5, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Unfortunate**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Three, although it probably best fits Season One or Season Two**

* * *

"Unfortunately, Mr. Watterson, complications arose during the surgery. Your brother is fine and he will make a full recovery but we had to give him a full unit of blood during the procedure and he's receiving another one now. He had severe internal bleeding that we didn't expect..."

"Damn succubus."

"… observe him ... I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Nothing. Go on."

"We'd like to keep him for a few days, but his ruptured spleen should heal cleanly and he can resume normal activities within the month. Your brother is one lucky man tonight."

"Yeah, lucky. Can I go see him now?"


	37. Challenge Intro

**Date: September 12, 2010**

**Challenge Intro: The first one was intense, the second knocked him off his feet**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Three**

* * *

The first one's intense, the second one knocks him off his feet.

And the next thing he knows, he's lying face-down on a motel bed, chartreuse coverlet pressing against his nose and mouth.

"Hey. Welcome back," the voice is soft, familiar. Soothing. "Just go back to sleep, you're okay. I gotcha." There's huge hands on his back, strong fingers working over the muscles of his wrecked shoulder.

He thinks there must be gunk involved because his skin's all warm and tingly, but the sensation isn't unpleasant. Suddenly, the knots release and he moans in unexpected, relieved surprise.

"Felt that, huh?"


	38. Challenge Intro - Bonus Feature

**Date: September 12, 2010**

**Challenge Intro: The first one was intense, the second knocked him off his feet**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Three**

**Warnings: A bit on the hot and heavy side because my brain so went there, but nothing you wouldn't see on soap operas or prime-time TV**

* * *

The first one's intense, the second one knocks him off his feet. And then he's flat on his back, her mouth hot and moist on his, the slippery-smooth Egyptian cotton sheets snagging on calluses as his hands seek purchase. She's straddling him, pelvis pressed hard against hips. Then, stretching out, her weight distributing more evenly, she slides her hand lower, undoing his belt, the button and zipper of his jeans, tugging down the denim, palming his member through the thin fabric of his boxers, still kissing him thirstily, desperately. The pressure builds until he's nearly undone, and he takes her.


	39. Dirt

**Date: September 19, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Dirt**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season Four, Taggish to 4x01 LAZARUS RISING**

* * *

Dean stands in the tiny, glass-enclosed shower stall, wondering how his kid brother even fit into it with the bulk Sam'd gained while he was… _down under_... letting the hot jets of water pound over him, washing away the accrued dirt and filth, watching it swirl muddily down the drain.

He tries not to think of how the space's not much wider than a coffin.

Suddenly, he can't see, can't breathe, can't move, and he's back there, six feet below, moist darkness closing in around him, packed tightly, soil filling his mouth, getting into his airways...

And then he's out.


	40. Stumble

**Date: September 26, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Stumble**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Early-mid Season Four, but not necessarily after Dean tells Sam about Hell, but can be seen that way even though it doesn't really match the timeline of 4x08 WISHFUL THINKING or 4x10 HEAVEN AND HELL**

* * *

"Dude… propane," Sam hisses, dousing the corpse with salt, watching surreptitiously for signs of trouble. When there's no answering trickle of lighter fluid, Sam glances over and sees his brother's gone gray-white, sweating buckets even though the October night is chilly.

"Dean?" His voice's sharp with worry.

Dean rouses, thrusts the blue plastic bottle of fuel at Sam. "Finish it," he rasps, stumbling from the edge of the grave. As the smell of burning flesh fills the air, there's a crash and then the gut-wrenching sound of someone gagging, vomiting.

Sam crouches besides Dean. "Y'okay?"

"No." A ragged pant. "H-hell."


	41. Rough - Double Drabble: LE Marauder

**Date: October 3, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Rough**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY LEMARAUDER!**

**Word Count: 200 on the dot (CHOKE ON IT, WORD COUNTER)**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Three, although it probably best fits Season Three**

* * *

The effect is instantaneous.

Dean screams and bucks on the cheap motel bed, his face scarlet and contorted in agony as the holy water fizzles and foams.

Sam grips Dean's sweat-slick shoulder tightly, pinning down his seizing brother. "You're doing great… almost there," he babbles over Dean's hollered curses and whimpering moans.

The steaming stops. Almost immediately Dean's arms, stretched rigidly over his head, muscles and tendons cording and straining, go slack, and his face, flushed and damp, relaxes, smoothes, revealing he's out for the count.

Releasing a relieved, exhausted exhale, Sam untwines Dean's fingers from their white-knuckled grip around the metal spindles of the headboard, eases his arms down onto the drenched sheets, knowing they'll be sore in the morning. He reaches for the suture kit, adjusts the angle of the bedside lamp. Almost without looking, with the ease and confidence of years of practice, he threads catgut through the needle.

Swabbing his brother's fever-hot, bloody chest gently with the rough facecloth, Sam winces at the deep gouges scoring Dean's ribs, abdomen. He takes a fortifying breath and pushes the sickle-shaped needle through two corners of ragged flesh, puckering them together. "You gotta stop trying to save me, bro."


	42. Blue

**Date: October 10, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Blue**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One, Tag / Missing Scene to 1x03 DEAD IN THE WATER**

* * *

Sam huddles under the bright-red thermal first-aid blanket, sitting on a log, attempting to control his shivers, vainly trying to ignore the bone-deep chill that's beginning to settle in his joints.

He glances up, sees Dean standing at the edge of the dock, staring out at the mirror-calm lake, water pooling beneath his boots.

Sam rises slowly to his feet, soaked jeans squelching with his movements, and goes to him.

Dean's lips are blue in the waning evening light. "It should be over. He got what he wanted."

Sam nods. "What d'you say to a hot shower and dry clothes?"


	43. Gear

**Date: October 17, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Gear**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season Four, Tag / Missing Scene to 4x06 YELLOW FEVER, taking place right after Dean tells Sam the fourth floor "is high" and assumes Sam got permission to change rooms**

* * *

Sam bends over, setting down the last of their gear on the sidewalk, weapons clattering in the small olive-green Marine duffle, by his brother's foot. Dean's sitting on the concrete curb, his back pressed against the Impala's hubcap, arms wrapped around drawn-up, jeans-clad knees, apprehensive gaze monitoring their surroundings. His hand absently scrabbles at his forearm and Sam can see new bloody abrasions where his nails had broken through the skin.

"Oh, hey, don't do that," Sam admonishes.

Dean freezes, wide green eyes snapping up fearfully, and Sam feels like he's kicked a kitten.

"It's okay. Ready to move in?"


	44. Hurt

**Date: October 24, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Hurt**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Pre-series, Dean's about 13 or 14, Sam is 9 or 10**

* * *

Light leaks from beneath the bathroom door, flooding the room. Sam isn't sure what woke him up when he hears a low, pain-filled moan.

Slipping silently from his bed, he pads his way across the dark room when there's a groan, the sound of someone puking his guts out, and Dad's voice, rumbling and oddly soothing, murmuring, "It's okay, just take it easy. I know it hurts..."

Sam pushes the door inwards and sees Dad's crouched besides Dean, rubbing Dean's side as his older brother whimpers and retches into the bathtub. There's blood, lots of it.

"Shut the door, Sam."


	45. Sprained & Scary

**Date: October 31, 2010**

**Challenge Words: Sprained & Scary**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Four, although it probably best fits Season One or Season Two**

* * *

"Aggggghhhh," Sam screams, the back of his skull colliding with the headstone he's leaning up against.

Dean glances up from his crouch, withdrawing his hand from Sam's ankle, frowning at the sight of Sam's flushed, sweat-slick face. "Well, it's definitely sprained..." he announces needlessly over Sam's harsh, ragged panting.

"No f-friggin' shit. Y-ya think?"

"…But I don't think it's broken," Dean finishes. "C'mon. Let's get you out of here before Casperette the Scary, Mortal Ghost comes back. Freakin' Halloween."

"I wasn't the one who squealed like a girl…" Sam grunts as Dean pulls him to his feet, takes his weight.


	46. Emergency

**Date: November 7, 2010**

**Challenge Words: Emergency**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season Four, Tag / Missing Scene to 4x16 ON THE HEAD OF A PIN**

* * *

Another hospital, another emergency room. Sam shifts his weight, the too-small plastic chair creaking under his weight. Sam buries his head in his hands, digging fingers into outgrown hair. He can still feel Ruby's turbocharged blood humming in his veins, infusing him with raw power. His hands tremble with the desire to kill Alastair again for what he did to Dean.

Sam swallows, remembering Dean lying on the floor of the meatpacking plant, bloody and unconscious.

Broken.

He clenches his hands, wanting to punch Castiel or Uriel for getting Dean into this mess in the first damn place.

"Mr. Winters?"


	47. Sweatshirt

**Date: November 14, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Sweatshirt**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Four, although it was originally intended as a Tag / Missing Scene to 1x12 FAITH, taking place between the motel scene and when they pull up to the LeGrange's revival tent**

* * *

They've barely left the county when Dean's asleep again, huddled in the passenger seat, the gray-black hood of his sweatshirt pulled low over his forehead, pillowing his head against the cold glass.

The front wheel hits a pothole and the jostling impact makes Dean groan sharply, his breath stuttering as he curls on himself, bracing his ribs with a supporting arm.

Sam winces. "Sorry." He carefully steers the car over the next buckled patch.

Long, silent miles go by and Sam hears his brother shivering, teeth clacking. He fumbles, turning up the heat, angling the vents towards Dean. "Almost there."


	48. Flat

**Date: November 20, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Flat**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Mid-late Season One through Season Two**

* * *

His head cleaves with agony and he drops instantly to his knees, sprawling onto all fours. Glass cuts into his palms as he retches, vomits. His vision's spiked through with neon and he can't think, can't scream, can't breathe as he writhes on the parking lot blacktop.

Then there's hands, steady, sure, and warm.

The pain subsides and the release makes him whimper.

There's a voice, low, gentle, and he's hauled upright. He's barely got his legs steadied when he's laid flat on a narrow bench. His eyesight clears and he sees the creamy interior of the Impala.

"Another vision?"


	49. Card

**Date: November 28, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Card**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season Two, Tag to 2x21 / 2x22 ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE (1 & 2), not exactly a missing scene, but rather explores Dean's perspective during one particular moment**

* * *

His soul for Sam's life.

It was never a choice.

He offers it freely, without hesitation.

And the Red-Eyed, Lower-Level Demon grins at him like a cat who's caught a mouse, relishing his desperation.

He knows right then he's made a rookie move — he's revealed his trump card too soon, to play it for all it's worth. He hears Dad's voice, lecturing, _never show your whole hand all at once, it puts you at the other guy's mercy because they know you have everything to lose._

But in the end, it doesn't matter. He seals the deal with a kiss.


	50. Here - Part One

**Date: December 5, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Here**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season Four**

* * *

"SAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMM!"

Sam nearly falls out of his bed, barely managing to catch himself on the edge of the bedside table, the final note reverberating in the dead silence. Dean's writhing on his bed, sobbing.

Instantly, he's at his brother's side, pressing his hand to Dean's chest.

At the first brush of contact, Dean bolts upright, his swinging arm catching Sam in the jaw with a sharp crack.

"It's okay, you're not in Hell," Sam babbles, ignoring the sharp throb near his ear. Dean's eyes clear with recognition and awareness, even though he's still panting raggedly, desperately. "You're okay. I'm here."


	51. Here - Part Two

**Date: December 5, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Here**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season Four**

* * *

"Damn," Dean curses softly as Sam clicks on the light, smearing his hand down the length of his face and dropping it back into his lap. He flinches, looks down and plucks at the hem of his drenched, dripping t-shirt. "Ugh. An' that was my last clean one, too..."

Sam silently rises from his perch, pads across the room. Reaching into his duffle, he pulls out a too-small dark purple shirt with a screen-printed greyhound and tosses it at Dean along with a spare pair of boxers. "Here."

Dean blushes as he pulls on the fresh clothes.

"Thanks, Sammy."

"Anytime."


	52. Bite

**Date: December 12, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Bite**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Three, although it probably best fits Season One or Season Two**

* * *

"Dean, c'mon, I gotta see how bad she gotcha."

"Bite me."

"It can't be that bad."

"Fuck you."

"I'm just trying to help. C'mon. You've been in there for hours."

"No."

"So what's your plan? Hide until it goes away?"

"Yep."

"You can't stay in the bathroom forever."

"Watch me."

"What if I gotta go?"

"That's why bottles were invented, Sammy-boy."

"What about food? Y'gonna starve?"

"Y'could slide it through a doggie-door."

"Fat chance. C'mon, man, I promise I won't laugh. I've got pie."

"Pie?"

"Yep. But y'gotta come out an' get it."

The door clicks open.

"Oh, _God_. Seriously?"


	53. Metaphor

**Date: December 19, 2010**

**Challenge Prompt: Metaphor**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season Four, probably best seen as taking place after 4x10 HEAVEN AND HELL, around the vicinity of 4x11 FAMILY REMAINS or 4x12 CRISS ANGEL IS A DOUCHEBAG**

* * *

"So why won't you talk about it?"

"Nothing to tell. We ganked it, saved the town, that's all that matters, right?"

Sam frowns as the carefully-schooled mask settles over Dean's face. It doesn't quite conceal the haunted pain in his eyes.

"Why d'you have to be such a tough nut to crack all the time? I just want to help."

Dean shrugs, continuing to wipe his machete clean, not looking up. Then: "What d'you want me to do? Cry it out and hug? Let's see. My name is Dean Winchester and I tortured souls in Hell. How does that sound?"


	54. Massage - Double Drabble

**Date: December 26, 2010**

**Challenge Word: Massage.**

**Word Count: 200 on the dot (CHOKE ON IT, WORD COUNTER)**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Five**

* * *

Sam surreptitiously watches Dean as they trudge side-by-side through the wilderness, snow falling thickly. His brother's movements are slow, stiff, and Sam knows that he must be hurting after being thrown into the evergreen by the Yeti, but Dean's not admitting it and Sam's not pushing him. _Not yet_.

Dean pauses, takes a breath, and tentatively leans over, reaching down to retie his boot, his movements jerky, guarded. Suddenly he freezes up, a strangled squeal erupting from his throat.

Sam's pressed against his side in a heartbeat, bracing him, hand cupping elbow. "Dean?"

Dean doesn't move. "M'back…" he moans, trailing off into a string of breathless curses. "Ohgodfuckinghellithurtsohfuck…"

"Okay. Okay," Sam says, carefully lowering Dean onto all fours. "Easy, man, y'gotta breathe." The ground is frigid and rock-hard beneath his knees. He rucks up the layers of nylon, flannel, and cotton, exposing bruised flesh, and he can see the muscles quivering and spasming beneath the skin.

Pulling off his gloves, he digs his fingers into the tight, jumping knot. Massaging it quickly, efficiently, he feels it release and hears Dean whimper.

"Better?"

Dean nods, eyes teary, still panting hard, and lets Sam drag him upright. "M-motel?"

"Yeah, dude. Let's go."


	55. Cool

**Date: January 2, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Cool.**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Five**

* * *

He feels a hand stroke his forehead. It's cool, dry, soothing. He leans into the touch. The palm's too small, too soft and smooth to be to his brother's. Besides, they don't really do the forehead-feel thing. Yet it's so comforting he can't help but crave more of it. It's a touch a mother would give to a sick child.

He forces his eyes to slide open, lids feeling like lead weights.

The nurse smiles gently at him, her scrubs covered in cheerful, frolicking Sesame Street characters. "Hey. Welcome back. You're in Recovery and your brother's waiting for you outside."


	56. Flank: Part One

**Date: January 9, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Flank**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Pre-Series, Dean is probably 16-19, Sam 12-15**

* * *

Alright, boys. It's time to bring these suckers down," John props open the false bottom and roots through the arsenal. He hands each of his sons a sawed-off shotgun. "D'you remember the plan?"

Dean nods. "I cover the ridge, draw the pack towards you. Sam takes the left flank. And if it goes to shit, grab Sam and get the hell out."

John smiles, teeth flashing in the moonlight, claps Dean on the shoulder. "That's right, Ace. Got enough silver bullets?"

"Yes, sir," they answer in unison as Dad slams the trunk shut.

"Let's get this show on the road."


	57. Flank: Part Two

**Date: January 9, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Flank**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Pre-Series, Dean is probably 16-19, Sam 12-15**

* * *

John levels his shotgun and blasts silver, picking off the alpha-male, finishing off the werewolf pack. Peripherally, he sees Sam run out…

"Where's Dean?" John demands.

"I dunno… I heard a scream and I couldn't see him…" Sam's eyes are huge and fearful in the flashlight beam, shining with tears.

"Don't worry," John forces calm into his voice. "We'll find him."

Twenty minutes later, they find Dean in the rushes, bloody and semiconscious. John drops to his knees and rucks up Dean's saturated shirt. There's a nasty gash along his flank.

"D-dad?" Dean's voice is thready, weak.

"Shhh. I gotcha."


	58. Side - LaedieDuske

**Date: January 16, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Side**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAEDIEDUSKE! (Prompt: quivering stomachs and soothing tummy-rubs for Dean)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season Five, Tag / Missing Scene to 5x21 TWO MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT**

* * *

"Oh, god, fuck..." Dean moans, drawing up his knees, face pressed to the laminated flooring. "Fuck."

Sam shakily pushes himself up and army-crawls over to Dean's side, his own body thrumming with aftershocks. He can still taste blood and all he wants to do is curl up and die.

"You okay, bro? It's over. Pestilence's gone."

Dean's panting, breath rasping loudly in the silence. Then: "Cramps."

"Okay. You're gonna be okay. Lemme see." Sam forces himself onto his knees and pries Dean's arms from his stomach. Pressing his hand against the spasming muscles there, he feels them release and relax.


	59. Pull - Double Drabble

**Date: January 23, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Pull**

**Word Count: 200 on the dot (CHOKE ON IT, WORD COUNTER)**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Five, although it probably best fits Season One or Season Two**

* * *

Dean cracks open an eye and glances at the clock. It's three in the morning and he can still hear water running. Sam's bed is still perfectly made, all sharp creases and hospital-corners with no sign of anyone having slept in it.

Groaning, Dean rises stiffly, his back protesting. "Sam?" he calls out, crossing the room. "C'mon bro. A two-hour shower is a bit ridiculous. Even for you, princess," he says, rapping on the thin plywood door.

There's no answer.

He tries the knob and it turns easily. Pushing his way into the tiny, tiled, closet-like space, he pads over to the shower and pulls back the curtain.

Sam's standing under the frigid spray, blue-lipped, goose-pimpled, and fast asleep.

"Aw, man, I thought you'd grown out of this," Dean grumbles, reaching out and shutting off the tap. "Dude? You with me?"

Sam startles awake, teeth clattering.

"Hey there Sleeping Beauty. Figured I'd fish you out before you drowned. Here." He offers a stabilizing hand as Sam steps out of the tub and passes him a towel. When Sam doesn't move, blinking dazedly, Dean scrubs him dry, threads limbs through sweatpants and t-shirt.

"There. Chick-flick moment over. Let's go to bed."


	60. Grate - Tuppence

**Date: January 30, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Grate**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TUPPENCE! (Prompt: Happy-Dean moments, perchance with John)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Stanford-Era, although it doesn't necessarily take place long before 1x01 PILOT with vague references to 4x03 IN THE BEGINNING**

* * *

"Here," John grates out, sliding a pair of keys across the scarred, sticky Formica tabletop. "She's yours."

Dean starts, blinking up in confusion at his father.

"You've earned her. The Impala's yours." John takes a long, slow sip from the tar-black brew.

"Dad—"

"No buts. I've already bought a truck. Besides, she's always been yours."

Dean reaches out, fingers the keys.

"I don't think I have to tell you to take care of her."

"No, Sir." Dean looks down, traces a heart carved into the table.

John shoves a pack of printouts towards him. "There's a hunt in New Orleans."


	61. Grate - Enkidu07

**Date: January 30, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Grate**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY ENKIDU07! (Prompt: Sore throated Dean. Like, maybe Strep throat and it is making him a little feverish and grumpy and maybe a little embarrassed because, it's just a sore throat. But it is kind of throwing him off his game and making him feel fatigued and clumsy. And Sam may not be wise to what's going on and then figures it out and has to bully him a little...)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Five, although it probably best fits Season One or Season Two**

* * *

Dean doesn't touch his morning coffee, as black and thick as pitch, the way he likes it, and pokes his eggs around his plate, swirling yolk and ketchup like a bad Pollock painting.

"Dude?"

Dean grunts noncommittally and visibly winces.

At lunch, Dean knocks over his glass, grates out he's not sick, and surrenders the keys. In that order.

He dozes all afternoon and into the evening, shivering sporadically.

At the motel, Sam traps him into a headlock, pries open his mouth, and sees the telltale white spots.

"Strep, man. Clinic time. Maybe they'll give you the good bubblegum-flavored stuff."


	62. Square

**Date: February 6, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Square**

**Special Challenge: Write something that makes you happy**

 **Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Five**

**Warnings: VERY SQUICKY AND SOMEWHAT GRAPHIC GASTROINTESTINAL BADNESS (eh, what can I say? It's a kink)...**

* * *

Dean focuses on the ceramic squares that make up the bathroom floor. The gray-white ones are matte, a bit rough beneath his bare toes. The red ones are glazed, glass-smooth and shiny in the harsh, bright fluorescent lights.

His stomach gives a deep, loud, dissatisfied rumble that he simultaneously feels and hears. Moaning softly, he leans forward, trying to ease the angry, building fullness.

Instead, the tightness intensifies and he presses his hand against his gut. His abdomen is painfully bloated, distended.

Suddenly, there's another sick, foul-smelling flatulence and everything sluices out of him in a hard, fast, burning torrent.


	63. Drift - Wolfpack Pride

**Date: February 13, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Drift**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY WOLFPACK PRIDE! (Prompt: The boys taking on the snow...)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Five**

* * *

"Dean?" Sam drops to his knees besides his inert brother, disregarding the snow soaking into his jeans, desperately pressing pads of raw, red, half-frozen fingers against Dean's throat. The pulse is strong, steady, and Sam can feel his brother's warm breath on his wrist. "Bro?"

Dean's eyes flutter open, blown, uneven pupils roving unfocusedly before latching onto him.

"C-cold."

"Yeah. I bet." Sam pats down limbs, torso. "You really took a header back there. Nothing's broken though. You ready to go home?"

Dean's eyes drift closed as he nods, swallows convulsively.

Sam hauls him upright, shoulders his weight. "I gotcha."


	64. Stall

**Date: February 20, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Stall**

**Special Challenge: One of the guys force-examines the other**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Five**

**Warnings: Implied squick**

* * *

"Sam." Dean's voice is low, soothing, as though he's speaking to a scared child. "It's bad but I'm gonna fix it, all right?"

Sam nods, more terrified now than when he'd been strapped to the witch's altar and probed. Everything's fuzzy and he loses time again.

Then he's in a filthy truck-stop bathroom stall with Dean crammed up in the tiny space with him.

"Sorry, man, but I gotta look. I swear — I'm just gonna look."

He feels Dean undo and tug down jeans, boxers. There's an intrusion and an intense burn that makes him scream.

"Got it. You're good."


	65. Guise

**Date: February 27, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Guise**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season Five, Tag / Coda to 5x10 ABANDON ALL HOPE**

* * *

"Dean?" Sam pushes open the creaky screen door, pads into the yard.

There's no answer.

A search and he finds Dean sitting on the ground, forehead resting on drawn-up, denim-clad knees.

Wordlessly, Sam slides down, leans against the Impala.

After a long time, Dean raises his head and his face is tear-stained, all guise stripped away. "It's my fault," he whispers hoarsely. "If I hadn't freaked, hadn't froze… hadn't fucking _tripped_ …"

 _She'd still be alive_.

"You can't know that. You did everything you could. What happened to Jo and Ellen… It wasn't your fault."

"Then why do I feel responsible?"


	66. Tip - PwnedByPineapple

**Date: March 6, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Tip**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY PWNEDBYPINEAPPLE! (Prompt: brothers being brothers)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One or Season Two, all things considered**

* * *

"You left a _tip_?" Dean doesn't squeak, leaning heavily on Sam, wrenched ankle bearing none of his weight, arm bracing ribs. "That was my hard-earned cash!"

"Well, the poor girl is going to have to clean the bloody towels we left behind, to say nothing about your pukey sheets." Sam opens the front passenger door, folds his battered brother into the seat. "You okay?"

Dean grunts, eyes squeezed shut, and nods in affirmation. Huddles deeper into the soft hoodie.

"Yeah? Good. What d'you say we blow this joint before the bikers you pissed off last night come after our asses?"


	67. Skunk - Mad Server

**Date: March 13, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Skunk**

**Special Challenge: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADSERVER! (Prompt: sniffly, sneezy Dean - Sorry I failed in filling it!)**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Five, inspired by a certain shot of Sam in 5x22 SWAN SONG but in no way spoilery for anything in the series.**

* * *

The small, smoky, neon-lit, hole-in-the-wall bar is full and bustling, unsurprising for a Friday night in a nowhere town that warrants barely a blip on the map. There's not only the weekly crowd, more than half barely clearing legal age, but the usual hodgepodge of truckers and drifters.

Sam pushes the door inwards, glances at Dean who clenches his jaw and nods.

They wind their way towards the pool tables, straight to a pair of surly teamsters.

Dean flashes his shit-eating grin as he hefts a cue in his hand, passes another to Sam.

"So, guys, ready to be skunked?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **_A/N:_** According to my laptop's dictionary, the phrase "Be Skunked" is a verb that means to defeat (someone) overwhelmingly in a game or contest, especially by preventing them from scoring at all.


	68. Cozy

**Date: March 20, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Cozy**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

 **Timeline: Season One through Season Five**

* * *

The tiny white-haired woman carefully sets down the brown ceramic pot besides the steaming cherry pie and covers it with a yellow-and-gray knitted tea cozy. Turning to the two battered hunters, she tuts, gestures them to sit.

"It's payment for that poltergeist," she insists. "So no use arguing." She takes out a huge, well-stocked First Aid kit from under the sink. "I've known Bobby Singer since he was in diapers. Taped him up a few times, too. Shirts off."

They quietly acquiesce and her sharp eyes don't miss any of their bruises and scars.

"You've been through hell, haven't you?"


	69. Rub

**Date: March 27, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Rub**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

 **Timeline: Season One through Season Five**

* * *

Dean claws desperately at screwed-shut eyes. Whimpering sobs escape from his throat as tears stream from beneath rubbing fingers. "Fuck, Sam, it burns…"

"I know." Sam soothes as he bypasses the beds, half-dragging his brother into the bathroom and manhandles him until he's kneeling on the cracked, yellowed linoleum against the side of the tub. "I'm gonna fix it. It's just Mace."

"Oh _fuckfuckfuckfuck_ …"

Sam twists the tap on full-blast and forces his brother's face under the icy deluge, one hand gripping short hair, fingers of the other prying open bloodshot eyes.

Cries ease.

"There y'go. You're okay. Just breathe…"


	70. Fix

**Date: April 3, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Fix**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

 **Timeline: Season One, after 1x04 PHANTOM TRAVELER but before 1x20 DEAD MAN'S BLOOD, most likely in the earlier days, circa 1x09 HOME but not necessarily a tag / missing scene for that particular episode**

* * *

"This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son, Dean. 785-555-0179. He can help."

Dean flips his phone shut, ending the connection before the beep.

Closing his eyes, he reopens it with his lips and thumbs the speed-dial.

Again the voicemail comes. Again he hears his father's impersonal, matter-of-fact tone.

He hits the END button and hurls the cell against the wall. The plastic collides with the laminate and falls instantly to the floor, skittering into a corner.

He drops his head into his hand, pinches his nose.

_Who fucking fixes the fixer?_


	71. Long

**Date: April 10, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Long**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

 **Timeline: Season One through Season Five**

* * *

He comes around slowly, awareness stealing in on little cat feet. First there's the feel of starchy sheets, the smell of antiseptic. Then there's the low hums and beeps of machines. And he thinks of Carl Sandburg.

With superhuman effort, he forces his eyes open.

"Hey, Sammy." The voice is gruff, full of undisguised relief. "Welcome back."

He rotates his head, registers the pull of stitches along his abdomen, ribs, and meets Dean's shit-eating grin.

"How long was I out?" His voice is a feeble, raspy croak.

Dean's grin vanishes and he's exhausted, deep bags beneath his eyes. "Three days."


	72. Floor - Double Drabble

**Date: April 17, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Floor**

**Word Count: 200 on the dot (CHOKE ON IT, WORD COUNTER)**

 **Timeline: Between Season Three and Season Four, when Dean is in Hell**

* * *

Sam staggers, crashes onto the motel carpet. It's matted, moldy. But all of that is secondary to the gnawing pains in his stomach.

The cramps intensify and he vomits. Shivering, shaking, he gets his knees under him, thighs digging into his abdomen, forehead pressed up against the floor.

The pressure gets worse and he screams.

There is no one.

"RUBY!" He howls between retches, heaves. "Please!"

Then she's there, kneeling besides him, gently forcing him to look up, strokes back greasy, puke-caked strands from his sweating face. "It's okay, Sam. I'm here."

Ruby smiles, takes a gleaming dagger from her knee-high boot and slices across her wrist.

The smell is coppery, heady. Sam grabs at her soft skin, gripping hard enough to bruise if she wasn't… he clamps his mouth over the welling blood, gulping frantically, forgetting the pain, relishing the hot strength flowing through him.

**::: ::: :::**

Ruby drops her voice, so low Sam doesn't hear, not that he could through his guzzling and crying. "Just drink, little butterfly." She rubs his slick shoulder as he drinks and drinks, sobbing with pathetic, human relief. "See those wings? They're gonna flap so hard and there's nothing you can do about it."


	73. Fall

**Date: April 24, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Fall**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

 **Timeline: Between Season Three and Season Four, when Dean is in Hell**

**Warnings: Alastair and Hell-squick**

* * *

Fifty-six hours in, he stops feeling the meat hooks piercing his shoulder, side, hands, and he doesn't scream for Sam. Not anymore.

It's more because he lost his voice and wrecked his vocal cords than actual resignation.

Then Alastair comes. And he's in a world of hurt.

He manages to think he's never going to be able to watch _Silence of the Lambs_ ever again just as his abdomen's sliced open.

He stares dumbly at his small intestine spooling from him. It looks like sausages. And he doesn't scream.

"Awww. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?"


	74. Sly

**Date: May 1, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Sly**

**Special Challenge: Include the Royal Wedding**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

 **Timeline: Season One through Season Five**

* * *

"It's going to be all right. Just a little while longer. How're you doing, bro? You hanging in there?"

Sam doesn't expect Dean to answer. Dean's face is white and pinched and he's doubled-over, cradling his hand against his chest.

Dean lets out a wounded, whimpering sound. Sam reaches out slyly and squeezes Dean's shoulder. Dean leans into him.

"S'been hours," Dean's voice is low, wrecked with pain. He hugs his sprained, possibly broken, wrist closer to his body.

"Soon," Sam reassures him.

Dean glares at Sam and, suddenly, he grins, his face lighting up. "Look at that babe's ass!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **_A/N:_** Yes, Dean totally just caught a glimpse of Pippa in her bridesmaid dress on the TV behind Sam in the ER. Also? The wedding was live around 6 am EST. So, depending where the boys were in the US, that gives you an idea of just how long they've been in the ER if they went in following a salt-n-burn...


	75. Score

**Date: May 15, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Score**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

 **Timeline: Season Four, Tag / Coda to 4x21 WHEN THE LEVEES BREAK**

* * *

He always knew the score, knew who was up and who was down.

And right now he was down.

Dean rolls over, groaning, still coughing for breath. _Sammy walked out. Sammy actually fucking left_. Regret burns in his gut as he rises shakily — dizzy and heartsick — and surveys the trashed honeymoon suite.

He spits a glob of blood-tinged saliva onto the carpet. Smearing his mouth with his jacket cuff, he makes his slow, aching way to the door.

He's in the red. Knows it. But he can try to make it right, somehow. To make the sides balance out again.


	76. Nap

**Date: May 22, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Nap**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

**Timeline: Season One through Season Three**

**Warnings: Gastrointestinal badness and related squickage**

* * *

Dean naps fitfully in the next bed, shivering sporadically but finally catching a reprieve from whatever virus's raging through his system. Sam glances up from his laptop, surveys his brother. Dean's gray, washed-out. Freckles standing out across his nose and cheeks. Even his hair is limp and sweaty, sick-looking. But he's resting.

Sam exhales, rises. He picks up the bile-lined trashcan, wrinkling his nose even though he can't really smell the vomit anymore.

Sam's rinsing out the puke-bucket when Dean bursts in, dropping his shorts and squatting on the toilet. He doubles over, muttering incoherent curses as his bowels void.


	77. Swarm

**Date: May 29, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Swarm**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

 **Timeline: Season One through Season Five, although it probably best fits Season One or Season Two**

* * *

"Fuck!" Dean yells, hot on his heels. "Fuck! Run, Sam!" He shoves at Sam's shoulder, urging him, his own legs pumping like pistons. "Make for the river. Go!"

Sam spurs himself to run faster, zigzagging to escape the angry hornets threatening to overtake them, feeling sharp stings on his neck, arms.

Just ahead, the river gleams silvery between the trees.

Sam blindly dives in after Dean. When he surfaces, the swarm is gone but he knows they'll be back. He turns to his brother, takes in Dean's wide-eyed horrified stare.

"Oh, shit," Dean breathes. He raises his hand, points. "Alligators."


	78. Card - Take Two

**Date: June 5, 2011**

**Challenge Word: Card**

**Word Count: 100 on the dot**

 **Timeline: Season Five, Tag / Missing Scene to 5x22 SWAN SONG, taking place immediately after the shot of Dean being held by Lisa in the doorway but before the dinnertime scene**

* * *

She lays on the sofa, carding her fingers through his short, spiky hair, her arms wrapped protectively around his shoulders. He exhales, stirs in his exhausted sleep, brow furrowing in pain, grief. A low, stifled sob escapes him, but he doesn't wake.

She shushes him gently, caressing the nape of his neck as he stills again. She doesn't tell him that it's going to be all right. There is nothing she can say. Nothing she can do.

He slides his arms around her hips, squeezes.

She tugs the quilt higher, tucking it around them, and watches the sun come up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _**A/N:**_ You are not hallucinating - for some reason this is a repeated E/O word... CARD was also used back in November and my original take using it as a prompt word can be found in Chapter 49 of this collection.


End file.
